Thanks for reaching us, I followed your steps and in fact, using the breadcrumbs pattern right on the layout will create a poblem, the js_hide_parent_if_empty is working, but because you have a placeholder inside it, the arrow is visible.

The simple way to go here is to just put your #1 link in a web block and use it across your aplication, since you will have to add the other breadcrumbs manualy, using this web block one time should be easy and changing the link is done in a single place.

If you really want to use the breadcrumbs on the layout, a little trick is to put this script in the document ready to hide the arrows. Make sure to set the Style of your new placeholders to "CustomPlaceholder" or other of your choice, and use the same in the script, but keep in mind that this goes beyond the standard way of using the pattern.